North Forest days numbered after another court loss

By Ericka Mellon |
June 26, 2013

North Forest school officials lost one of their final court battles Wednesday, making the district's state-ordered merger into HISD next week increasingly likely.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner rejected claims by North Forest that the school system's takeover by the Houston Independent School District would violate the rights of minority voters.

North Forest has two more long shots to halt the shutdown of the school district, with motions in state appellate court and the Texas Supreme Court.

State Education Commissioner Michael Williams has expressed confidence that his order to shut down North Forest after decades of academic struggles and financial problems would stick. He issued a statement this week saying he had no doubt the merger with HISD would happen Monday after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling about voting rights eliminated a remaining hurdle.

In his order, Hittner noted the "well-documented educational struggles" in North Forest and said granting a temporary restraining order to halt the annexation was not in the best interest of students.

"In short," he wrote, "the affected children, the educators, and the state would be severely harmed by the issuance of a TRO."

Chris Tritico, an attorney for North Forest, said that even if the merger takes place, the legal challenges don't have to end. The school board members sued the state in their roles as citizens, as well as in their official capacity.